Nearly twenty-five years into our career, though, the way the industry saw us had changed. In the beginning, the old guard of tastemakers hated us. We were the class clowns, the naked band. But by 2016, younger acts like Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, and even some hip-hop artists were citing us as an influence. A new generation of gatekeepers—music journalists, TV producers, Grammy voters—grew up with blink and were in charge now. Somewhere along the way we’d become the elder statesmen.
